


Mountain lion in the dark

by Misses_B



Category: Leverage
Genre: Eliot Spencer Whump, Gen, Hurt Eliot Spencer, Protective Eliot Spencer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27491017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misses_B/pseuds/Misses_B
Summary: What would have happened if the Russians held an unpleasant surprise for Eliot after he defeated Roper in The Carnival Job?Or: Eliot doesn't do hospitals? I think it's time to change that.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 33





	Mountain lion in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> Eliot's time at the Army: Since it is well known that Eliot did special ops with Vance in his Army time nobody knows the rank he had back then. And though he is very good in whatever he is doing I don't see him in a commanding position. Sorry for that.
> 
> Perky & Botasky - reference to the manga Cat Shit One about American soldiers in Vietnam
> 
> You should have watched The Carnival Job before reading this story.
> 
> Many thanks to my beta Ayleen1 for her fantastic help!

Eliot was panting heavily. Roper was young, he was fast, and he had no concussion from that spinning wheel that had hit Eliot in the head not even ten minutes ago.

But Eliot had experience. He knew what to do even though his eyes let him down in that friggin' house of mirrors and he didn't know which one of these four guys in front of him was the real Roper. He closed his eyes, concentrated on his breathing and relied on his other senses. The hitter didn't need to see the moves of his opponent, he felt them, and before the other man even knew what happened Eliot had him by his shoulders and threw him into the nearest mirror.

Roper went down, and the mirror shattered into a thousand pieces, revealing the man who was standing behind it, holding Molly tightly with his left arm, one hand over her mouth to keep her silent. Her eyes were wide open, partly with fear, partly with fright when she saw the state Eliot was in. He was bleeding, his right shoulder looked somehow wrong, and he could hardly stand on his feet.

But it wasn't over yet. With his right hand the man who was holding Molly pressed a gun against her head. "One move", he said, "and I will shoot her".

Eliot had to think and he had to think fast. He could try and knock him out with a single quick blow. Under normal conditions that shouldn't be a problem, even with the gun aimed at Molly's head, but he was seriously hurt and not sure if he could be quick enough to prevent the girl from being shot. While he still hesitated, Molly's eyes widened even more. Then everything went black.

Meanwhile Hardison ran amok in his surveillance van.

"I lost him! Man, Eliot, what's wrong with you? Answer me, will ya?" He ran his fingers desperately over his face.

"What do you mean you lost him?" Nate asked over his comm.

"Man, I don't know. I heard him fightin', I mean, really hard fightin', and then - nuthin'. And now I can't reach him anymore. Please tell me he's okay, man." As always when the Hacker was excited, his slang became stronger.

"Okay, Hardison, calm down. Can you see anything on the cameras?", Nate wanted to know.

"Wait a mom' - oh, yes. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. There is a van behind the house of mirrors. They're taking Molly in there."

"How is she?"

"She's fine, I would say. But, man, I can't say the same 'bout Eliot. They're draggin' him. I think he's blacked out!"

"Okay, follow the van as long as possible. The Russians have the chip already so we have to regroup and consider what to do next", Nate said with a frown. That didn't go by plan, absolutely not, and he didn't like that at all.

*

The van left the carnival, a young girl and an unconscious hitter inside.

Molly was scared. After they had knocked Eliot over the head with a club, the Russians forced her to climb into the empty cargo hold of a waiting van and threw Eliot unceremoniously beside her. Then they closed the doors and drove away.

Molly didn't know where they were going or how long they had been driving already. All she knew was that Eliot was out like a light and she had no idea how to wake him up. She didn't dare to touch him, afraid to hurt him since almost every part of his face looked bruised or bloody. "Eliot", she begged, "Eliot, please, wake up!"

For a long time he didn't react at all, but finally he began to stir and opened his eyes. It appeared to Molly as if he needed some time to realize what happened and where he was.

"Molly?", he rasped finally. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine, Eliot. I'm so glad you are back with me now. How are you? You don't look that good", the girl answered.

"Don't worry, I've had worse", he replied and sat up carefully, grimacing when his body complained, and rubbing the sore spot at the back of his head. "But we are in deep shit, as it seems. I will try something when we stop but for now we have to wait."

So they did. Eliot had his arm protectively around Molly's shoulder, the girl snuggled to his side.

Finally the van stopped. Eliot stood up and took position at the doors, ready to fight everybody who would be on the other side. Molly crouched into the farthest corner, as Eliot had told her to do.

The same moment the doors were opened Eliot kicked out furiously. With a bloody nose the first Russian thug went down, but another one took his place immediately. Eliot was able to land some really nice punches but finally he was pulled out of the van and overpowered by too many opponents. Especially Roper knew no mercy, taking violently revenge for his defeat in the house of mirrors. In the end Eliot lay on the floor, covered in blood and unconscious for the third time on this day. Two of the Russians took him between them and dragged him into a small room in the basement of a house, dumping him on the naked concrete floor near a wall. Molly had to follow, then they closed the door behind her and left them alone.

  
The room was empty and cold and lit only by a single light bulb and a tiny barred window high up in one of the walls. First Molly tried the steel door behind her, but it was firmly closed. Since she didn't knew what else she could do she crouched next to Eliot. He was lying on his back and looked terrible - a cut on his forehead and one on his right cheek bled freely, as well as his nose and his lower lip. His right eye had already begun to swell shut. His breath came shakily, and though Molly didn't know much about injuries she was sure that some of his ribs must have been at least bruised, if not worse. His knuckles were bloody, and the fingers of his right hand didn't look right. Molly remembered what had happened in the house of mirrors and she had seen the punches and kicks Eliot had to endure and she absolutely didn't know what to do to help him. She was really scared.

"Eliot", she said and shook him very carefully to wake him up. But he didn't respond.

"Eliot, please. You have to wake up!"

Nothing.

Molly was close to crying. Then she remembered the code names she had given Eliot and herself before.

"Hey, Perky, are you with me?" she whispered desperately into his ear.

That seemed to get through to Eliot somehow.  
Molly saw him holding his breath. He tried to inhale but hissed in pain and his whole body tensed. His hands groped around blindly on the floor until he made a wrong move with his right hand and his whole body froze. He squeezed his eyes, and Molly heard him moan.

"Eliot, please", she begged.

He frowned, and turned his head in her direction. Slowly he opened his eyes to small slits - he didn't seem to be able to open them fully.

"Mmm", was all he managed. But if as he had realized that Molly was scared to death, he moved his left arm and opened his hand. "C'm 'ere", he whispered, and Molly snuggled very carefully to his side, laid her head on his chest, and started to sob silently.

" 's okay,", Eliot rasped, " 'm fine".

"Sure you are", Molly mumbled into his shirt and shook her head.

They laid like that for quite a while. Through the window Molly saw the light fading so she knew it must have been evening. At some point one of the Russians brought them a bottle of water and some packed sandwiches.

Molly had an idea. "I have to pee", she told him. She really had to, but she also thought that she could perhaps take a look at their surroundings. It wasn't really difficult for her to look like the scared little girl she was so the man allowed her to leave the room and led her down a narrow corridor to a small bathroom. They seemed to be in a kind of basement, and nobody else was to be seen. If she had been alone, Molly would have tried to run. She was fast and agile, but she immediately rejected any idea of escaping since Eliot was definitely not able to walk.

Back in her prison she took the bottle and a sandwich and brought both to Eliot. He hadn't moved at all in the meantime.

"Eliot, drink", she whispered and held the bottle to his lips.

The hitter stirred and tried to hold the bottle by himself, but failed miserably. He couldn't suppress a groan as his hand useless fell back onto the floor. So Molly carefully dripped some water into his mouth and was relieved when she saw him swallow. With her handkerchief and some of the water she begun to clean Eliot's face. He kept absolutely still and winced only once when she dabbed at the cut on his cheek.

"How - how many?" Eliot asked.

"Hu?"

"Men. How many?"

"I only saw one."

"Can do."

"Eliot, please. You can hardly keep your eyes open, not to mention stand up and walk."

"CAN. DO!"

And, with the support of the wall behind him, Eliot seriously tried to lift himself up. But when he almost stood upright his right knee gave way and with a yelp he collapsed. Molly was by his side instantly.

"Sorry, luv", he gasped.

"It's okay, Eliot", Molly answered. "Perhaps you will feel better tomorrow."

And so they sat, Molly cuddled by his side, waiting for the next morning.

*

Meanwhile Nate paced around in the Leverage office.

"Hardison. Please tell me you've got something!"

The Hacker was engrossed in his laptop.

"Yeah. Maybe. I've got a signal from Molly's earbud, but it's very, veeery weak. I can't put a finger on it. I only have a rough area."

"That has to be enough", Nate answered. "I have to make a phone call, and with a little luck we should be able to rescue them tomorrow in the morning. Eliot once told me of an old friend of his who has the resources for that."

*

The next morning Molly was awakened by a voice in her head.

"Molly. Molly, can you hear me?"

The girl was puzzled, until she remembered the earbud Eliot had given her at the carnival.

"Yeees?" She answered warily.

"I'm Nate Ford, one of Eliot's teammates. You will know us as the architects that spoke to your dad. Do you remember?"

"Oh! Oh yes, of course I remember you. Where are you? Why didn't I hear you before?"

"Shht, be quiet, please! We are near the house now. We couldn't contact you before because we were out of reach, but now we are here to rescue you. Molly, please tell me: how is Eliot? He lost his earbud in the house of mirrors, apparently. Can you give him yours so I can talk to him?"

Molly looked at Eliot. He was in a bad state. She found him shivering and only half conscious. He seemed to be completely unaware of her speaking to someone. But he still had his arm firmly around her shoulders. His eyes were half shut and every time she tried to talk to him the night before he didn't respond. It seemed to Molly that he could avoid slipping into unconsciousness only with pure willpower.

"He is not good, Mr. Ford. These men - they punched him and kicked him really bad, and he is not really conscious, I think."

"So he can't walk?"

"Definitely not, Mr Ford."

"Okay, Molly. Have a little more patience. We are on our way. If the Russians should come to you, just play along. Don't try anything stupid, you hear?"

So, for lack of better options, she waited at Eliot's side for the things that were to come.

Quite a while later - Molly didn't know if it was an hour or two or even longer - she heard noises outside the door. It sounded like people were moving quickly and shouting commands.

Suddenly the door was opened, and some people entered the room, followed by soldiers. Molly recognized Eliot's friends - the man called Nate who seemed to be the leader of the group, and the dark-haired woman as well as the young slim blonde and that tall Afro-American.

When Nate entered the room he couldn't suppress a hiss. Eliot was half sitting, half lying against one of the walls. His face was swollen and covered with several cuts and bruises. He didn't react at all but his eyes were at least half open. His left arm was put around Molly protectively. The girl seemed to be unharmed.

"Molly", Nate said. "Are you okay, girl? Are you hurt? Come to me, please."

"I'm fine, Mr. Ford. But I can't get up, Eliot is holding me down."

And Nate saw Eliot tighten his grip around her even a little more.

Carefully Nate knelt beside Eliot. He knew very well that their hitter could lash out suddenly even when only semi-conscious.

"Eliot", he said softly, "Eliot, it's me, Nate. You can let her go now."

But the man didn't react at all. Nate could see that his whole body was tense and he was trembling with the effort of staying awake. And Nate knew that Eliot was trying to protect Molly by pure instinct only and that he didn't have the strength left to keep his brain working, too.

Molly stirred on Eliot's side and reached up to cup his beaten face with one hand.

"Hey, Perky", she said in a soft voice, "Perky, it's over, you hear me? Your team is here, it's Mr Ford sitting next to you. And the others are here, too. You can let go now."

That seemed to work somehow since Eliot begun to stir. Nate could see how difficult it was for him to pry his eyes open. It took him a while to focus on Nate, but then he seemed to recognize him. "Nate", he whispered, almost inaudible and his body relaxed so that Molly could get up and go to Sophie, who stood a bit offside with tears in her eyes. Parker and Hardison were there too, shocked by the sight of their hitter.

Nate slid a little closer to Eliot. "Here you are", he said. "How do you feel?"

But all Eliot could manage was a low moan.

"The army is here, Eliot. They helped us with the Russians."

"Ar'y?"

"Don't worry. Vance's people. No questions. Everything is covered."

"V'nce."

"Yes. You once said he still owes you one. It took me one phone call and when he heard that you'll need help it was only a matter of minutes. Look, Eliot, there is a doctor here, too. Let her have a look at you and then we will have you out of here in no time."

"Mol'!"

"Molly is fine, Eliot. She is absolutely unharmed and waiting over there with Sophie. You did a fantastic job to protect her. But now let the doctor do her work, will you?"

" 'kay".

Nate left his side and the Army doctor knelt beside him instead. She was a wiry woman in her fifties with an open face and short brown hair. She moved very carefully and slowly as if she didn't want to spook Eliot. It seemed to Nate as if she had a lot of experience with injured fighters.

"Hey, soldier", she greeted him friendly, "I'm Doctor Sanchez."

Her words seemed to have a certain effect on Eliot because he straightened as far as possible in his current condition.

"Doc", he slurred.

"Easy, Sergeant", she replied. "Don't overdo. Let me do all the work." Eliot obeyed and relaxed a bit.

Carefully the doctor palpated Eliot's body, beginning with his head, followed by his shoulders, his arms, his torso and down his legs. From time to time Eliot grimaced in pain and his body tensed, and the doctor made some short comments to her assistant.

"Good", she said, "What I will do now is to give you a blood pressure cuff on your left arm. I need to know how you're doing. Is that okay for you?"

Eliot nodded weakly, and Nate was wondering why the doctor did explain everything down to the smallest detail to him. But apparently it was easier for the hitter to accept being touched by someone he didn't know when he heard what would happen to him next.

The doctor applied the blood pressure cuff, checked the readings, and frowned.

"A bit low for my liking", she said, "but we will get you fixed soon. Now I will put an IV on your right arm, okay?"

But Eliot shook his head and tried to evade her hand.

"Easy, Sergeant", the doctor calmed him down. "No pain killers, I know. Colonel Vance told me about it. We will give you some of the really good stuff later, so don't worry. It will be some liquid only, something to feed you up a bit, alright?"

Resigned Eliot gave in and let the doctor do her work. He didn't seem to have the power to argue.

"Okay, Sarge", the doctor continued. "That's all for now. We will now put you on a stretcher. That will hurt a bit but the boys will try and be really careful. A helo is waiting outside and will bring you to the next military hospital. There we will deal with the rest. How does that sound?"

But Eliot seemed to be too exhausted to say or do anything at all. Four of the soldiers who accompanied the doctor picked him up carefully and placed him on a stretcher. A painful yelp from Eliot told Nate that he still was with them.

"I will come with you", Nate told the doctor. She hesitated for a moment but then she nodded. "Perhaps it's the best if there is someone with him who he knows."

A few minutes later the helo noisily rose into the air.

Nate sat next to Eliot and had his hand on the other man's shoulder who seemed to drift in and out of consciousness. From time to time his breath accelerated, but he always calmed down again.

After a while Nate realized that Eliot's hands begun to tremble. Suddenly his whole body began to shake and his back arched. Nate was scared, but the doctor was already in action. She checked Eliot's eyes and pulse and quickly prepared a syringe. But then Eliot cramped, his breath hitched, and his face was contorted with pain. Nate became desperate. Only too well he remembered the body of his little son lying in an ICU room and convulsing under the shock paddles. 'No', he thought, 'dear god, no! Not another one. Not this one. Please!'

Thankfully the doctor didn't hesitate. Courageously she pushed the syringe into Eliot's chest near his heart. For a moment he still cramped and gasped for air, but finally he relaxed and his breath normalized.

Relieved Nate released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"What was that?", he asked the doctor.

"He fell into shock", she explained. "His body finally decided that he couldn't take it anymore. He is unconscious now, but the hospital is not far away anymore. Relax, Mr Ford. He is strong, he will pull through."

Two hours later Nate was pacing in the little waiting area of the hospital when the door opened and the rest of his team arrived. Sophie was the first to notice the state he was in. His eyes were bleary and bloodshot, his hair disheveled, and he couldn't sit still in one place.

"Nate", she soothed. "Shhh, calm down. How is he?" Behind her Parker and Hardison came closer.

Nate could hardly suppress a sob. "I don't know", he told them. "He is in there since we arrived and nobody has told me anything until now."

"Certainly they are still treating him", Sophie tried to convince him.

"Sophie, he had a seizure in that helicopter. He fell into shock and almost died! And I couldn't do anything to help him. Soph, I felt so helpless."

"He will pull through, Nate. He always did. He is way too proud to die, man", Hardison said, but he didn’t sound really convinced. Parker sobbed quietly beside him and he put his arms around her.

They had to wait for two more hours until Doctor Sanchez entered the waiting room. She looked tired.

"Mr Ford? Mr Hardison? Ladies? Eliot is out of surgery now." They all went up and looked expectantly at the doctor.

"How is he?" Hardison asked.

"Well, he is stable now. We had a lot of work with him. He has three broken ribs and two more are cracked. His right shoulder was dislocated and three fingers of his right hand are broken. His right knee is badly twisted, and he has a concussion."

"Of course", Sophie said with a sigh and got a questioning look from Dr. Sanchez.

"But what caused us the most problem was his spleen", she continued. "It was ruptured and caused a really heavy internal bleeding. Therefor the shock he fell into in the helo. We lost him two times on the table, but provided there are no complications he should fully recover. The next twelve hours will decide"

"Eliot!", Parker sobbed and started really to cry. Hardison took her in a tight embrace and cradled her softly.

"Can we see him?" Nate asked.

"He is in ICU now and sleeping off his anesthesia. But you can have a short look if you want."

All four of them followed Dr. Sanchez to one of the intensive care rooms.

Nate was the first to enter the room, followed by Sophie and Hardison. Parker stayed in the door. Nate looked back to her and saw the tears in her eyes. She shook her head and looked absolutely helpless, so Hardison went back to her and hugged her firmly.

"He will be fine, Parker", he tried to comfort her. "He has to", she replied quietly.

Eliot lay motionless in the hospital bed, his eyes closed, and he was breathing evenly. He almost looked as if being asleep, if it weren't for the cables that led away from under his blanket to a monitor. An IV stuck in the crook of his right arm, and a pulse monitor on his middle finger. Two cuts in his face were covered with gauze, and he had his right arm in a sling, the hand in a tight dressing to stabilize his broken fingers. He was breathing by himself, but a nasal cannula supported him with oxygen.

Dr. Sanchez checked his monitor and smiled encouragingly. "He is doing well", she said.

Sophie stroked a strand from his forehead and gave him a light kiss. "Get well soon, Eliot", she whispered. She gave Nate a knowing look and joined Parker and Hardison at the door. "We will be back tomorrow", she told Dr. Sanchez, and the three of them left.

Nate took a hesitantly step towards Eliot's bed.

"I'd like to stay here", he declared. "If he wakes up and nobody is here and he doesn't know where he is it could be messy."

Dr. Sanchez pondered briefly. She looked from Eliot to Nate. "Perhaps you are right", she said. "But try and do not disturb him. He needs the rest."

"Doctor", Nate asked, "can you tell me how you knew how to deal with Eliot, please? I mean, the team and I, we know that he can be difficult, especially when hurt. But you didn't."

Dr. Sanchez looked at Eliot for a while. Then she smiled.

"But I know these boys", she said. "Colonel Vance told me that they did special ops together, and sometimes even very special special ops, too, and I have already participated in some of such missions as a field medic. Sometimes I tend to compare these soldiers with mountain lions in the dark, and you don't spook a mountain lion, especially not when he is injured. Therefore I was that cautiously, and therefore I know that you better should be here when he wakes up, Mr Ford." With these words she shook his hand and left.

Nate sat down in one of the plastic chairs in the room and watched Eliot's still body. He really tried to stay awake in case Eliot needed him, but the heart monitor beeped regularly and everything looked so quiet and peaceful, so exhaustion took over and after a while he was sound asleep.

*

Something unusual woke Nate.

Eliot's monitor beeped in irregular intervals, and Nate could see that his heart rate was accelerated.

But he saw something else, too. Eliot had begun to stir. His brow was furrowed, and his left hand moved restlessly on the blanket. He was about to wake up!

In an instant Nate was by his side.

"Eliot", he said, "Eliot, can you hear me?"

Eliot froze. For endless minutes he didn't do anything at all. Finally, his tense body relaxed a bit.

"Nate?", he rasped. "That you?"

"Yeah, it's me, Eliot. Everything is okay. You are in a hospital."

Slowly Eliot turned his head in Nate’s direction. His frown deepened even more and it appeared to Nate as if he had to concentrate strongly on opening his eyes. At last, he succeeded.

"Hospital?" He croaked.

"Yes. You don't remember? Roper and his thugs gave you quite a beating."

"Molly!" And suddenly Eliot tried to sit up.

"Shhh, easy, Eliot. Don't. Molly is fine, really. She is with her dad and will come and visit you as soon as you are up to it." Softly Nate held Eliot by his shoulders to prevent him from hurting himself even more. With a groan the hitter sank back on his pillow.

Suspiciously he looked at the wires and tubes that were connected with his body.

"What's that all about?"

"Your spleen has been ruptured. It was a close call, Eliot, you really gave us a scare."

In that moment the door was opened, and Dr. Sanchez and a nurse entered the room.

"Eliot", she greeted him with a smile. "How are you? Do you remember me?"

"Dr. Sanchez, isn't it?"

"Yes, absolutely correct. I'm glad you still know my name. And I'm very relieved to see you awake. I promised your folks that you will fully recover, and you didn't let me down, as it seems."

"But I did let down Molly", Eliot replied weakly.

"The girl that was with you when we found you?", the doctor asked.

Eliot closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"She is waiting outside. She is a very tough little girl, and I'm absolutely sure she wouldn't have gotten through it so well without you", the doctor told him and opened the door.

Outside were waiting not only Molly and her father but the whole Leverage team as well.

"But only for five minutes", Dr. Sanchez warned them. "He needs rest to recover."

With a beaming smile Molly came closer. "Hey, Perky", she said.

"Hey, Botasky", Eliot answered. "How are you?"

"Oh, Eliot, I'm fine, really. I'm so glad you were with me all the time. Does it hurt badly?"

"No, not really. They are giving me the good stuff here", Eliot replied dreamily and pointed to the IV in his arm.

Smiling and with a last look at this little group around Eliot's bed Dr. Sanchez left the room and closed the door. She was sure that with the help of this wonderful people not only the little girl would get over this bad experience but also her patient would fully recover, too. And maybe some time later she would ask Colonel Vance about the missions he did together with Eliot.

The end


End file.
